Maxwell's Demon
by Hikaru Kosuzaku
Summary: Post EW. L2 has been overtaken by mercs determined to start a new war. Apparently the only one they fear is the elusive Demon. When the Gundam boys get sent in to deal with the problem they find themselves face to face with said Demon. 1x5, 3x2x4 HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Alright! Here's the first chapter for my newest story! It's a 1+5, 3+2+4 story and it's probably going to be going for a little while.** **I hope you enjoy reading it and you won't lynch me if I don't update regularly. I'm supposed to be writing papers and studying for finals, after all.**

**Hikaru Kosuzaku**

Quatre Winner gave a small smile as he looked about their strange group. The year they had spent away from the war had been good for them. All five of the former pilots worked for Preventers, although Quatre only worked there part-time. He partnered with Heero and Duo during those times, leaving Trowa and Wufei to work together. Une had given up in an attempt to keep the pilots from working with their lovers when she realized that no matter who Quatre was placed with, he would always end up with either Duo or Trowa.

In the year since the Eve Wars, the boys had grown up. While they weren't yet adults, they had lost some of the childishness to their features that had been present during the wars. They were all still extremely fit, a precaution just in case they needed to pull their Gundams from their secret storage. Une and a couple of the other top agents knew that the boys hadn't actually destroyed them, as the last set of wars taught the Preventers that you could never be too prepared.

They had all grown during the year. Trowa was still the tallest, having shot up to a height of six foot three. He still practiced his acrobatics, and was such had kept that figure. He liked his height and used it to his advantages, especially against his two lovers. Quatre was the second tallest of the group at five foot eleven, and had lost the baby-face he had managed to keep during the war. Instead he now stood as an aristocratic CEO, and an even better agent.

Heero hadn't grown much, due to genetic manipulation, but he had also lost the childish look to his features. In his place was a young man with chiseled features and a glare that could make even the most hardened criminal wet himself. He only stood at five foot six, but that was okay with him. In his mind, he was short and that was that. He didn't have a problem with it, and anyway it was the perfect size to cuddle up to Wufei with. Wufei, had grown to be five foot eight, making him the third tallest in their small group. He'd allowed his hair to grow to mid-back and usually kept in tied back in a lose ponytail as opposed to the tight one from the wars.

Duo, however, had changed the least. His time on the streets had left his size at a small five foot two. He was still too thin despite the amount he ate, and had a tendency to be somewhat flighty. Trowa and Quatre had managed to curb his fears about losing everything he loved, although it had taken a while. He was still his energetic happy self for the majority of the time, however, and could often be found snuggling with Trowa while convincing Quatre to finish his paperwork for him.

Quatre smiled, looking around at his friends and holding back a laugh as Duo antagonized Wufei over something. They weren't children anymore, but still took the time to act as such. Duo, seeing his amusement, bounced over to the desk and plopped onto it. "Hey Quattie! What's up?"

"Don't you have some paperwork you need to finish?" Quatre asked with an amused smile.

Duo grinned. "Heero loves me and will do it for me. Won't you Hee-chan?"

Heero rolled his eyes, crumbling up a piece of paper and lobbing it at Duo, where it bounced of the braided pilot's forehead. "Do your own work, baka." That was one friendship Quatre was pretty sure he would never understand. That and Duo's friendship with Wufei. The braided teen lived to annoy the two, and yet the three were practically best friends. It was strange, but so long as no one died, he would go with it.

Duo pouted. "Aww…well…Q-bean! You love me!"

Quatre shook his head. "Not when you don't do your work."

Duo's pout intensified but he finally gave up and got to work. About fifteen minutes later, Trowa stepped into the office to say that Une had an assignment for the five of them. Quatre sighed, setting aside the copious amount of paperwork that he would have usually done at WEI headquarters. He had gotten lonely, however, and had snuck off to Preventers to join with the others. Just his luck that they would be getting a mission on the day he had actually decided to come.

They all stood, stretching slightly as they made their way to Une's office, Duo bouncing ahead of them as he was wont to do. Trowa and Quatre exchanged amused smiles as Wufei and Heero both rolled their eyes. Upon entering the office, however, they all settled down and waited for their orders.

Une sighed tiredly as the five stood in front of her. "We've lost all contact with L2," she stated emotionlessly. "Apparently Oz had some troops left on the colony that went underground after the war. They've now managed to overcome the entirety of our Preventers base there."

Wufei frowned. "Wouldn't they know that we would retaliate?" he asked, sounding slightly perplexed.

Une shrugged. "Apparently, they don't fear the Preventers or the Gundam Pilots." She frowned, tilting her head to one side. "Our contact managed to say that the only thing they feared was the Demon before we lost contact."

"The Demon?" Heero asked. It was obvious he had never heard of it before.

Quatre noticed Duo's face go suspiciously blank and turned to him. "Duo? What do you know?"

"The Demon," Duo murmured. "That was when I was a kid. It's been years since then…everybody was scared of the Demon." He didn't say anything else and the others took it to mean that he didn't know anything else about the entity.

"What do you want us to do?" Trowa asked, eyeing Duo for a moment before turning back to the Commander.

"I want you to go in and contain the situation," Une replied. "Everything goes. We need to get the colony back under ESUN control, and as long as the Oz troops hold it, it won't be."

"Mission accepted," Heero replied, and the others all agreed as well.

They exited the office, and it seemed that no one noticed that Duo was no longer bouncing.


	2. Chapter 2

Next Chapter

They had watched him the entire flight there. Duo could feel their eyes, and he understood the reason for them. He had never really told them anything of his past, merely stating that he was from L2 and had spent some years on the street. Never elaborating, never going into detail. He didn't want to think about it, and therefore he didn't allow the others to.

They respected his wishes, but now that they were going to the colony for the first time since the war, they were curious. Most of them hadn't been to L2 for more than a day or so at the most, and they knew that Duo would be essential for this mission. But even he knew that he was more subdued than usual, and it was causing the others to be more wary around him.

In retrospect, they should have realized that if the colony was completely overtaken, then the shuttle ports would be as well. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to realize this until they were taken into custody. It had happened so quickly that the five weren't able to do anything about it.

Which led to the small cell they were currently being held in, chained to the wall. Duo watched with shadowed violet eyes as one by one the others all woke from their forced unconsciousness only to find that Quatre was missing. "Status?" Heero murmured, looking about the cell.

"Alive," Wufei grunted.

"Fine," Trowa muttered, emerald eyes portraying his concern for his blond lover.

Duo gave a small hum. "Not in a good mood," he finally answered.

The cell door opened at that moment and two hulking guards came in, dragging Quatre between them. The blond was bloodied and bruised but seemed okay enough if the angry glare was anything to go by. The guards threw him roughly against the wall, and he gave a small grunt at the impact, not bothering to struggle as he was chained up.

"All awake then?" one of the guards grinned. "Lookit that, we've just caught ourselves the Gundam Pilots!" He stepped closer, eyeing Duo. "And aren't you familiar. The pretty little street rat." He reached out to touch Duo's cheek.

Duo snarled, twisting away from the hand. "Don't touch me."

The other guard took a step forward. "Street kids are off limits, man. The Demon made that clear."

The first guard scoffed. "The Demon ain't been around in years. He's not about to come back now."

"The Demon?" Trowa murmured, trying to keep the attention off his two lovers.

"What? You've never heard of the Demon? Everyone on L2 knows of the Demon," the second guard exclaimed, looking shocked at their lack of knowledge.

At the pilots' blank looks, the first guard rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that they could get in trouble for conversing with the enemy. "During the first war, a church was destroyed because twelve rebels were seeking refuge there. Two hundred people died, all of them innocent except for those twelve rebels. There were no survivors. But after the Maxwell Church Massacre Oz troops began dying. Their throats slit as they slept, entire compounds exploding into flame, being knifed in empty alleys. And wherever they died a symbol was left, painted in blood. A cross backed by a scythe. Everyone called it Maxwell's Demon." The guard scowled, annoyed with himself for talking for so long. He grabbed his partner by the arm and dragged him out of the cell, the door slamming shut behind them.

"04?" Wufei asked softly, giving a small sigh.

Quatre shifted, the chains rattling. "I'm sore, but I'll live."

"What did they want?" Duo asked softly, his voice much more subdued than normal.

Quatre glanced his way, absently wondering about the story they had been told. Maxwell, though, was a common name, and there had been no survivors of the Massacre. Which was awful in and of itself. "They wanted details on Wing Zero," he finally answered.

Heero swore softly. "They want to build a Gundam?"

"They believe that ours are gone, and that the Earth is therefore defenseless," Quatre replied. "Meaning that they have Mobile Suits, possibly Dolls, somewhere, along with a substantial amount of gundanium alloy."

"This is bigger than we thought," Trowa murmured. "They'll have amassed an army."

"And so have I," Duo muttered, more to himself than the others but the words caught their attention anyway. At their questioning looks he merely gave his trademark grin. He looked up at where his chains met the wall, noticing that the bracket was rather loose. He wiggled a little, grinning some more as the bracket loosened considerably.

There was silence in the small cell then, as the others all wondered how they were going to get out of this mess. And then, nearly two hours later, the doors opened again and the same guards entered, one looking almost nervous, the other vindictive. "Boss said we can have a little fun," the one said with a cruel smile as he neared Duo. "So long as your buddies watch."

Eyes widened among the group, but Duo's face just went completely blank. The guard gave a fierce grin, tracing a finger down the pilot's cheek and ignoring the angry glares of the other four agents. Trowa and Quatre both looked about ready to skin him alive. A glint of gold around the braided agent's neck caught the guard's eye and he tugged the necklace out from under the shirt. "A solid gold cross?" He asked. "Must be worth something."

A sharp tug had the cross snapped from Duo's neck, leaving a bloody welt from where the chain had burned his flesh at the friction. The guard looked down at the cross in his hand, grinning at the thought of the money it could bring until he noticed the words engraved on the back. "Maxwell Church," he muttered, his surprise matching that of the others in the cell.

Duo moved, grinning inanely as he slammed his knee into the guard's gut, pulling his arms down roughly. The chains freed from the wall and he grabbed the man, slamming his head into the ground hard enough to crack the man's skull. He snagged his cross and looked up, smiling at the other guard as he got to his feet and sauntered over to Trowa. Slipping the cross into his lover's back pocket he purred, "Hold onto that for me," before turning to the other guard.

He tilted his head to one side, noticing the completely frightened look. "Guess what," he said happily. "I'm back."

"Demon," the man whispered, and Duo was quick to catch him as he tried to run. The chains wrapped around the man's throat and a sharp tug was all that was needed to kill him.

Duo turned and quickly unlocked Wufei's manacles with his lock picks before shoving the thin pieces of metal into the Chinese agent's hands to free the others. He then stared at the blood pooling about his first victim's body, his head tilting to one side.

Trowa frowned as Duo stepped forward and dipped his head in the crimson liquid, watching as it dripped from his fingertips. "Duo?"

Violet eyes looked up, flickering with some unknown emotion. "They want Maxwell's Demon, they'll get all of Maxwell's Demon." He turned to the wall and four quick strokes had a bloody cross and scythe painted across stone.

"Now come on," the proclaimed God of Death said to his freed comrades. "Let's get out of here."

**Woot! Death, destruction and mayhem! Well…death at least. The other two come later. Duo's got secrets though. And they will come out eventually. Let's see if the others can keep up…**

**HK**


	3. Chapter 3

Getting out of the compound that the pilots had been held captive in was a little harder than anticipated if only for the sheer numbers that the enemy seemed to have. It was disconcerting to the agents that most of the population of L2 that were 'well off' when compared to others, had decided to back the mercs. Duo, however, didn't seem to think this terribly alarming and almost acted as though he had expected such to have happened.

Quatre took a bone-shattering blow to the side, a few ribs cracking on impact, but he managed to keep up as the others slipped out of the compound and into the darkness of the colony streets. Duo hesitated for a moment, gaining his bearings as Wufei and Trowa grabbed the blond aristocrat and then the braided pilot was off again, the others barely following in time to catch sight of him before he disappeared into the shadows.

Fully ensconced in the darkness of a slum alley, Heero checked over Quatre's wounds, the rest of them having managed to get out with only a few scrapes and bruises. Duo shot him a worried look before returning his attention to the street. He gave a sharp whistle, smiling slightly when it was returned. A short series of whistles and chirps later, Duo was urging them forward again.

"Where are we going?" Wufei murmured quietly, knowing the need for discretion.

Duo glanced back at him, a wicked light in the violet eyes. But then they dimmed slightly and he gave a somewhat rueful smile. "Somewhere I had hoped I would never have to go again. But it's safe. The pack has ensured that."

They had absolutely no idea what 'the pack' was, but they trusted Duo with their lives, even if he had his secrets. Duo gave a small sigh and hoisted Quatre to his feet, noticing that the blond's breathing was quickly becoming more strained. Chances were, if they didn't get him off his feet soon, then the cracked ribs would fully break and puncture a lung. That was the last thing they needed out here.

"You alright?" Duo murmured as Quatre stumbled slightly.

Quatre gave a small grimace of a smile. "I've had worse," he replied.

Duo scowled, going up on his tip-toes to press a kiss to the corner of Quatre's mouth. "That doesn't make me worry any less," he whispered, watching as Trowa came to help support their lover. He turned back to the other pilots. "Right. Follow me."

He peered out of the alley and then waved the others forward, slinking through the shadows. It was a ten minute walk/run to where they were headed, which turned out to be the burned out rubble of an old building. They all paused as Duo hesitated, staring at the ruins, a strange gleam in his violet eyes. There, in the front of the ruins, some of the rubble had fallen to look like a massive cross, backed by a leaning scythe. "Welcome to the Maxwell Church Orphanage," Duo muttered, skirting around the rubble to a dark hole that presumably led to the basement of the building.

The basement, they found out, had remained relatively intact, despite the state of the rest of the church. There were piles of old blankets in one corner, and some dried food in another. Duo glanced around and gave a small smile, slinking to the entrance and giving another, different whistle. There was a reply and he gave a small laugh. He shook his head. "The pack stocked up for us. We'll probably be here for a while," he stated as he watched the others look around and get somewhat comfortable.

As they settled for the remainder of the night, Wufei staying near the entrance to their hidey-hole, Heero turned to Duo with a small frown. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Demon?" he asked.

Duo looked away, violet eyes staring at something no one else could see. "I ran with the gang, and They sent out a plague to clear the streets. I was sent to the orphanage and They bombed it." He paused, tilting his head to one side. "I was eight. Eight years old and having lost everything that mattered for the second time in my life."

Quatre gasped, hand hovering over his heart. "You were eight when you went after Oz as the Demon?"

Duo gave a small nod. "And I continued to do so until I was picked up by the doctor at the age of 13. I wasn't expecting to gain such a reputation." He gave a soft, humorless laugh. "Ah well. Maxwell's Demon or Shinigami…it's all the same in the end." He laid down and curled up against Trowa's chest, the two lovers being extremely careful with the injured Quatre, despite his protests that he was not made of glass.

Silence reigned after that, as the pilots all slipped into sleep, Wufei keeping watch. Four hours later, nearing three in the morning, Duo slipped away from his lover's grasp, managing to not wake either of them. He walked past Heero—who was currently on watch—and replying to his questioning with a simple wave of his hand.

When he returned, Trowa was keeping watch and the others, except Quatre, were awake and talking softly on the other side of the basement. Duo gave a small sigh, walking over to Trowa and resting his head against the taller teen's chest. His hands were stained with blood, but Trowa ignored that as he gently lifted his fellow pilot into his arms, as though he were just a toddler. Duo didn't seem to care, resting his head against Trowa's shoulder and wrapping his arms around his neck, his legs about the taller teen's waist. "Tired?" Trowa murmured.

"Very," Duo whispered before dropping off into a light doze. It was, admittedly, not the best way to keep watch, as Trowa wouldn't be able to pull any weapons with his arms as full as they were. But Duo looked more at peace in Trowa's arms than he had for some time, so Wufei stood to take over as Trowa stepped back into the shadows with his charge.

"Quatre has a fever," Heero murmured softly as Trowa sat down next to him, shifting Duo only enough to get settled comfortably. "His injuries were worse than he was letting on."

"Of course they were," Trowa sighed, glancing at the sleeping blond. "How bad?"

"He's had worse," Heero replied with a worried frown. "We all have." He paused, glancing at Duo. "Any idea what we need to do now?"

Trowa gave a small shrug. "Get in touch with Une and allow Duo to do his thing, I suppose."

Heero's frown deepened and he gently reached out and ran a hand down the length of Duo's braid. "He doesn't trust us."

Trowa shook his head. "He trusts us with his life," he retorted.

Heero gave a short nod. "Yes. But he doesn't trust us with our own. Otherwise, he wouldn't be sneaking out like he is."


	4. Chapter 4

**You know, I'm pretty sure I forgot a disclaimer. I don't own Gundam Wing, no matter how much I wish I did. I do, however, own the Pack, Flock and Pride. Yup. Anywho, enjoy.**

**Hikaru Kosuzaku**

Next Chapter

When Duo awoke, he was curled up next to Quatre in the dark basement. The others were scattered about, keeping watch and conversing softly amongst themselves. He blinked repeatedly in the low light before sitting up and stretching, giving a wide yawn. He looked down to the blond at his side, smiling when he saw blue eyes watching him. "Hey, baby," he murmured. "You feeling alright?"

"Been better," Quatre murmured, his lips quirking in amusement. "Been worse too, though."

"Haven't we all?" Duo said, also faintly amused. He leaned down and gave Quatre a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "I think I'm going to borrow Fei-Fei today."

"Hmm? For what?" Quatre asked, noticing that their conversation was attracting the others' attention. He pushed himself up on his elbows with a wince, watching as Duo absently fixed his messy braid.

"Meet the pack," Duo mumbled. "Gotta get plans done. See about the stash. Things like that." He gave Quatre a sweet kiss, turning and calling out to Wufei. "Yo! Fei, you're coming with me."

Wufei turned, one eyebrow raised. "Why me?"

"Because, you're kinda like a kitty-cat, ya know?" Duo said with a grin. At the others' stares he emphasized. "Fei is faster than Heero and more…well…cat-like. Not more-so than Tro, but he's smaller, which is important."

It turned out that was true, as Duo had the two of them scaling buildings and slipping through small spaces. Wufei followed silently, wondering who it was that they were going to meet that made it so difficult enough to find. Eventually they made it to another basement, and Duo gave a short whistle before dropping through the hole in the ground and into the room, Wufei right behind him.

Duo was immediately tackled by a group of ragged looking kids, all crowing his name in excitement. "Hey, puppies," Duo said with a small smile. "Where's the Mutts?"

"Scroungin'" a young voice answered. "Who's ya friend?" the boy asked, tugging on Duo's pants while looking at Wufei.

Duo gave his customary grin. "This here is Dragon," he replied. "He's a friend, and there are three others as well that you'll probably meet later. Lion, Wolf and Eagle."

"Cool. Demon? Are ya here ta stay?" a little girl asked, rubbing at her face with grimy hands. Wufei was frowning as he looked over the poor condition of the children. They were obviously homeless and had been suffering through a shortage of food recently.

Duo shook his head. "No, Pixie. I have a job now. But we are gonna get rid of the dirty soldiers, alright?"

There was a sudden commotion as three teenagers entered the basement and dropped a load of food on the ground, the 'puppies' scrambling to get some. The three teens looked over at the two pilots before grinning broadly. "Demon!" one blond boy said, running a hand through his dirty hair.

"Hey," Duo grinned, pulling the three teens into a hug. They were younger than the pilots by quite a few years, but obviously the oldest of the group here. Duo motioned Wufei over."Dragon, meet Dane, Lab and Poodle," he said, introducing the two boys and the girl. "Where's Shi Tzu?"

The girl, a waif of a thing with curly black hair all snarled and tangled, shrugged. "Soldier got 'er. Cut 'er up good. She din' last ta nigh'." Duo nodded slowly and Wufei turned away to watch as the 'puppies' ate their bruised and overripe fruit, splitting it equally amongst themselves and leaving some for the three 'Mutts' as Duo had called them. It was amazing and somewhat disturbing that children so young worked so well together.

"You a Preventer now, Duo?" Dane, the blond boy asked, using Duo's name although he spoke it softly.

Duo glanced at his uniform, dirty and stained with blood, and grinned. "Yup. So's Dragon, and Wolf, Lion and Eagle." He paused, looking over the motley pack. "We're here to reclaim the colony, but it's more difficult than we were expecting. Think you could let the Pride, Flock and Herd know?"

"Herd's gone," Lab spoke up for the first time, flicking dirty brown hair from his eyes. "Soldiers got 'em. Slaughtered 'em all."

Duo gave him a startled look. "Even the fawns?" If Wufei had it right, than the fawns were like the puppies: all children under the age of ten.

Dane nodded slowly. "'Specially the fawns."

Duo's face hardened and he shared a look with Wufei, who knew exactly what the boy had meant. "Alright. Contact the Pride and Flock. Tell them to get the kittens and chicks into Lockdown and have the Cats and Geese take up arms, as well as you three. Poodle, you Mallard and Siamese guard the little ones. Have Canada and Tiger do food runs for the next week or so. This is going to be like all out war, but we ain't leavin' till this colony is clear of soldiers."

"There's too many soldiers, and ta Money-Runners are backin' 'em," Poodle pointed out.

There was a light in Duo's eye that all the pilots would recognize as Shinigami, and Wufei couldn't blame him for it. "No one angers the Gundam pilots," Duo muttered, getting startled looks from the Mutts. Wufei gave a nod, his face just as grim as Duo's. "Besides," the street-rat pilot continued. "They've already hurt one of mine, and no one gets away with harming Eagle."

"He'd say the same about you," Wufei pointed out with a small smile.

"Don't I know it," Duo quipped, turning back to the others. "Are the stashes in the same place?"

"Yeah," Lab said, eyeing the puppies as they ate with a feeling of protectiveness about them. "We try not ta have ta use the guns, so they're all there. Added some more as we find 'em."

"Great," Duo nodded. "Use them now. Don't let anyone past you to the puppies, kittens or chicks. We'll handle the soldiers for now."

Duo said his goodbyes to the group, reiterating the importance of getting into Lockdown, and then he and Wufei left. Duo had them scaling the side of a large, abandoned building, and they paused on the roof, Duo crouched on a piece of twisted rebar over the desolate city. Wufei looked out over the colony, frowning. There was no sight of grass, trees, water or anything that he had known all the colonies to have. Instead it was just a wasteland of old buildings and dusty streets. People wandered about aimlessly. In the distance he could see the richer side of the colony, where people seemed happier, and where there were stores with fresh food and luxuries.

"Has it always been like this?" Wufei asked softly, not wanting to startle Duo into falling off his perch.

Duo stood with a sigh. "For as long as I can remember," he replied. He turned to gaze at Wufei, tilting his head to one side. "It's always been the Money-Runners…the wealthy, or relatively wealthy, and the homeless. There is no in between, and most homeless adults become mercs who are hired by the Money-Runners."

Wufei looked up at the roof of the colony, noticing at instead of the illusion of sky, it merely showed off the dull grey metal keeping them from the vacuum of space. He had known that L2 was not as well off as the other colonies, of course, but he had never expected it to be so bad. And to think that this was where Duo had grown up…he wasn't surprised that the man was now a pilot.

"Come on," Duo murmured, leading him to the side of the building, where another building was close enough to jump onto the roof off. "We gotta get to the stash and grab some weapons."

They returned to the basement of the Maxwell Church a couple hours later, stocked up with guns and knives that Duo had found carefully stored away in a little hidey-hole on some random roof. How the pilot had managed to keep all the buildings straight, Wufei had no idea.

Wufei immediately went to Heero and allowed the smaller pilot to wrap his arms around him. He was feeling somewhat off about what he had seen and learned today, and needed some cuddling to make up for it. Duo, he noticed, was on edge but didn't seem overly bothered by the state of things. What had upset him most was the loss of the fawns, as even Shi Tzu's death had been almost expected. Apparently, you didn't last long on L2.

"What's wrong, love?" Heero murmured, absently watching as Duo checked on Quatre and Trowa stood watch.

"When this is over," Wufei said softly, "Let's make it a prerogative that L2 gets cleaned up."

Heero glanced at him, frowning, and then looked back over to Duo, who was checking over the weapons he had brought back with Quatre's help. "Of course."


	5. Chapter 5

**I am soooo terribly sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I don't really have an excuse other than completely losing my muse. So…here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

Next Chapter

Quatre was quick about hacking through the computers, brushing his dirty hair from his face with shaky fingers. In the three weeks that they'd been there, things had been getting steadily worse. He gave a relieved sigh when he finally connected to Lady Une's office and her face flickered into view on the vidphone.

"Agent Winner!" Une cried in surprise, the pure relief in her voice plain and unhidden. When the boys had failed to check in for weeks, she had nearly panicked.

"Commander," Quatre answered, his voice somewhat raspy. "We apologize for not getting in touch earlier, but things are not good here."

Une frowned, obviously looking him over and not liking what she was seeing. His clothing was torn, stained with dirt and blood and obviously hadn't been cleaned since they had gotten there. His face was bruised and his hair dirtier than she'd ever seen it, even during the times she'd run across him in the war. There were dark circles under his eyes, nearly bruises, and he looked far too thin to be healthy. "Winner? How are the others?"

Quatre flinched slightly, having been somewhat startled by her question. For a moment there, he had forgotten he was supposed to be reporting to her. He definitely needed to rest. "They're at the Demon Lair," he mumbled. "Wufei's in bad shape. He was captured two weeks ago, but we got him back. We don't know if he'll last very long though. Trowa's sick too." He paused, chewing on his lip, glancing over to where the teenaged boy, Canada, was keeping watch, MP5 in hand. "You get sick here and you die," he said, absently repeating something that Duo had stated earlier on.

"None of you are going to die, Winner," Une practically commanded.

Quatre gave her a desperately weary look. "We're so outnumbered. Even with the Pack, Flock and Pride. Every adult on the colony are with the Neo-Oz. The Money-Runners are backing them. We've been forced to put guns in the hands of five year olds and hope they survive against fully trained adults." He shook his head against the memory of the massacre of the puppies that had only happened three hours ago. They were running out of time. "We can't keep doing this."

He was ready to collapse, Une could see that. And it worried her greatly. "Heero and Duo?" she asked gently, even as she started jotting down plans to send an army's worth of agents.

"Heero's fine," Quatre murmured. "Or as fine as he can be… Duo's… Duo's the Demon. He's too busy to be anything but fine." The little laugh at the end of that statement was just shy of hysterical, and it worried Une as well. There was a clatter and Quatre spun around, gun raised, allowing Une to see the fresh, red and slightly infected third-degree burn on the back of his shoulder. A brand, in the shape of a cross, backed by a leaning scythe.

"Winner! Your shoulder!" Une said in shock, not liking the look of such an obvious injury.

Quatre glanced at his shoulder, then at her, allowing his gun to drop back to his side. The whistle that had accompanied the clatter had reassured him of his current safety. "Demon brand. You get caught, you get branded." He shrugged lightly, wincing in pain as he did so. His ribs had yet to heal. "All of us have gotten branded but Duo. But then Duo's the original Demon. He knows this colony like he built it." Quatre fell silent when he realized he was babbling. He shook his head again and had to brace himself against the computer console when the world spun around him.

"Winner, are you okay?" Une asked in concern.

"Just dizzy," Quatre mumbled, head bowed. "Not enough food. Never enough food."

"Or sleep," another voice interjected. Quatre glanced over at his lover as Duo stepped into view of the vidphone. He placed a hand against Quatre's back and motioned him to the ground. "Rest, love. Mallard informed me of what happened this morning." Quatre shuddered at the memories of watching children get gunned down by merciless soldiers and not being able to do anything. Duo waited until Quatre had settled on the ground, leaning against both the console and Duo's legs. He then turned back to the vidphone and gave a wane smile that was merely a shadow of his usual grins. "Hey Commander."

She looked him over and noticed that he looked no better than Quatre, he was only handling it as though he was used to fighting this way. His braid was messy and coming undone, his clothing torn and dirty. There was a thin cut down one cheek that looked somewhat fresh. And his eyes…his eyes were dark with anger and disgust, Shinigami plainly in control and having been for some time. But around his neck, hung the golden crucifix, just as it always had. "Maxwell," she murmured.

"We've got control of the shuttle-port, Lady," Duo said, gently running his hand through Quatre's hair as the blond dozed. "I can't guarantee we'll be able to hold it long, but we have it now." He looked up at her, his violet eyes holding carefully controlled desperation. "We need help. Backup, food, medical assistance. Every day we're losing Wufei a little more. If we don't get help soon, he's going to die, and Trowa's not far behind him."

Une nodded, frantically writing. "You'll have your help. Hold the port for at least two days. And Maxwell," Une added. "Good job."

Quatre had returned to guard the shuttle port after his and Duo's impromptu nap. Duo had let him, not allowing his worry to consume him as he headed back to the Lair beneath the destroyed church. The Neo-Oz refused to set foot anywhere near the church, their superstition overweighing their heartlessness. When he got there he was met with a rather concerning sight.

Trowa had finally collapsed.

He had gotten a rather bad infection from the brand on his collarbone, and it had finally taken him down. Heero was watching over him with worried eyes as he mumbled incoherently from fever. "Funny, he's never this talkative when he's healthy," Duo quipped, hating how his voice broke. Heero looked up at him, blue eyes tired and just shy of desperate, and Duo turned away, slamming his fist into the wall.

HE reveled in the stinging pain of torn flesh as the skin was scraped off his knuckles, forcing himself to focus on that pain instead of the overwhelming urge to just break down and cry. "Duo," he heard Heero say gently from behind him, and he just let go. He slid down the wall, curling up and sobbing into his knees. He'd held it back so long, forcing himself to stay strong for the others, that he could no longer hold it in. Heero walked over, crouched down next to him and wrapped his arms around Duo in an entirely uncharacteristic hug.

Duo collapsed against him, his hands grasping Heero's tattered shirt tight enough that it threatened to tear even more. Heero held him, whispering useless nonsensical words as he gently rocked his friend. There was nothing that could possibly be said to fix this.

Except of course, Duo's next words.

When he finally calmed, still leaning against Heero's chest, Wing Zero's pilot absently running a hand through Duo's long hair, the Demon told of his recent conversation with the Commander. "Two days. They'll be here somewhere within two days and we can all go home."

"Wufei won't last—"

"He has to," Duo interrupted, looking over at the broken, unconscious form of their injured comrade. He could remember the panic when they heard that Wufei had been captured. He remembered the anger when he saw that Neo-Oz had decided to use the pilot as an 'example', tying him up, beaten and broken in the middle of the compound. He remembered the feel of rock and dirt against his stomach as he and Trowa shimmied closer, in an effort to get to Wufei. Could remember the horror at the sight of the demon-brand, burned into the hollow of Wufei's throat. They still weren't sure if that would create any permanent issues. "He's lasted this long. He can last another two days." His voice was firm, displaying none of the doubt that he felt. Wufei hadn't woken since they had gotten him back.

And he refused to remember Heero's reaction to when they had brought Wufei back. He'd never seen the Perfect Soldier so broken. Absently he traced the dirty bandages around Heero's wrist, hiding the demon-brand. Chances were, it was infected like all the others. Duo had been lucky; he hadn't been caught yet. Or at least, he hadn't been caught long enough to be branded.

"We're getting out of here. All of us."

Agents Zechs Marquise and Lucrezia Noin had never seen anything like this before. Even during the war. They had landed their shuttle ports at L2 and a mass of soldiers had streamed off, just in time to help round up a group of kids being led by three of the five Gundam pilots. The other two were being carried on make-shift stretchers.

Every child, down to the youngest of five, was carrying a gun or weapon of some kind. Somewhere in the distance there was an explosion, but no one flinched, aside from the Preventers that Zechs had brought along. "Diversion," one of the far-too-skinny teens murmured as he passed.

"Hello Zechs," Quatre whispered, looking up at him through dirty bangs. "Thank you."

He looked just shy of falling over. Heero and Duo were the same. And Zechs had never expected to see any of them look so down. Even at the end of the war, both wars, the five had stood tall, injuries notwithstanding. This…this was too much.

It didn't take much effort to load the five pilots into the shuttle, nearly five dozen kids spread out among the other four ships that would be returning to Earth. There would be two that remained, with the soldiers that would take down what was left of Neo-Oz. Although, the Demon had certainly decimated a large majority of their troops with help from the Eagle, Lion, Dragon and Wolf.

But now it was time to go home.

And maybe, just maybe…they'd be able to get through this mess intact.

Chapter End

**Yeah, so I totally skipped three weeks and now the boys are headed back to Earth. But don't worry, the story isn't over yet, and it's not like you won't know what happened on that colony. There's still more to go.**

**HK**


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